Difference between revisions of "Okurimono No Shukan (Japan)"

Very many gifts take the form of cash, the prototypical commodity-form.  Even when gifts are objects other than cash, in numerous instances it is prescribed that they be as impersonal as possible.  The giving of gifts is subject to a calculus of value based on monetary price, for precise attention to monetary cost is integral to the negotiation of certain relationships.  When one receives a gift from a department store, for example, there is a code printed on it, and this reveals how much the gift cost.  Japanese florists report that when they deliver flowers, recipients enquire how much the flowers are worth <ref>Rupp, Katherine. 2004. Gift Giving in Japan: Cash, Connections, Cosmologies. Stanford: Stanford University Press</ref>.  The reason why the receiver is so concerned with the price of the gift is that in many cases, a return gift is necessary, and in order to make the appropriate type of return gift, it is essential to know the cost of the original gift.<br>From one point of view, the cash value of gifts and the cash given at these exchanges has nothing to do with buying and selling.  Rather, it is connected to notions of auspiciousness, encompassment, and alignment.  Giving related to weddings and other happy occasions often emphasizes units of odd numbers.  Some sums of cash that are technically even—such as 10,000 yen or 100,000 yen—are considered as odd numbered units of one.  The cords used to tie the envelopes are made from odd numbers of strands; the cord with the highest number of strands, nine, is appropriate for a very auspicious event, such as a wedding.  The envelopes that contain the money are folded in such a way that left is placed over right and top is placed over bottom.

Very many gifts take the form of cash, the prototypical commodity-form.  Even when gifts are objects other than cash, in numerous instances it is prescribed that they be as impersonal as possible.  The giving of gifts is subject to a calculus of value based on monetary price, for precise attention to monetary cost is integral to the negotiation of certain relationships.  When one receives a gift from a department store, for example, there is a code printed on it, and this reveals how much the gift cost.  Japanese florists report that when they deliver flowers, recipients enquire how much the flowers are worth <ref>Rupp, Katherine. 2004. Gift Giving in Japan: Cash, Connections, Cosmologies. Stanford: Stanford University Press</ref>.  The reason why the receiver is so concerned with the price of the gift is that in many cases, a return gift is necessary, and in order to make the appropriate type of return gift, it is essential to know the cost of the original gift.<br>From one point of view, the cash value of gifts and the cash given at these exchanges has nothing to do with buying and selling.  Rather, it is connected to notions of auspiciousness, encompassment, and alignment.  Giving related to weddings and other happy occasions often emphasizes units of odd numbers.  Some sums of cash that are technically even—such as 10,000 yen or 100,000 yen—are considered as odd numbered units of one.  The cords used to tie the envelopes are made from odd numbers of strands; the cord with the highest number of strands, nine, is appropriate for a very auspicious event, such as a wedding.  The envelopes that contain the money are folded in such a way that left is placed over right and top is placed over bottom.

[[File:Photograph of another envelope.jpeg|150px|thumb|left|Photograph showing an envelope for a funeral.]]

[[File:Photograph of another envelope.jpeg|150px|thumb|left|Photograph showing an envelope for a funeral.]]

The number of strands in the cord that ties the envelope, the odd numbered units of bills the envelope contains, the way the envelope is folded, are all material embodiments of the encompassment of ''yin'' by ''yang'', of female by male, and the life that flows from that hierarchical ordering.  Precise measurement, both in terms of the emphasis on odd units of bills and on the cash value given, enables and underscores this encompassment.  Gifts to male employees are of considerably higher cash value than gifts to female employees.  Unequal treatment of male and female itself underscores the importance of reproduction, because within this symbolic system, it is through the combination of male and female in unequal relationships that life is believed to be created and sustained.

The number of strands in the cord that ties the envelope, the odd numbered units of bills the envelope contains, the way the envelope is folded, are all material embodiments of the encompassment of ''yin'' by ''yang'', of female by male, and the life that flows from that hierarchical ordering.  Precise measurement, both in terms of the emphasis on odd units of bills and on the cash value given, enables and underscores this encompassment.  Gifts to male employees are of considerably higher cash value than gifts to female employees.  Unequal treatment of male and female itself underscores the importance of reproduction, because within this symbolic system, it is through the combination of male and female in unequal relationships that life is believed to be created and sustained.